17 Times Directors Were Removed From Their MoviesGONE WITH THE WIND (1939)
Gone with the Wind was a troubled production from the very start, with production being delayed for two years due to producer David O. Selznick's insistence on having Clark Gable play the role of Rhett Butler. Selznick fired original director George Cukor a mere three weeks into filming, replacing him with Victor Fleming. But Fleming himself had to temporarily step down towards the end of production due to exhaustion, with Sam Wood filling in.THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939)
Production on The Wizard of Oz was a nightmare for pretty much everyone involved, and it went through a revolving door of directors during production. Original director Norman Taurog was replaced after filming a few test sequences. His replacement, Richard Thorpe, was fired by producer Mervyn LeRoy, who was unhappy with the quality of the performances under Thorpe's guidance. Then George Cukor was brought on, but he wound up serving in an advisory role to main director Victor Fleming. And when Fleming was tapped to take over directing Gone With the Wind from Cukor, King Vidor was hired to direct the last few remaining scenes on The Wizard of Oz.SPARTACUS (196)
Spartacus star Kirk Douglas had director Anthony Mann fired after one week of shooting, noting later that Mann "seemed scared of the scope of the picture." Mann was replaced by Stanley Kubrick, who had previously worked with Douglas on 1957's Paths of Glory.THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1976)
Clint Eastwood brought writer Philip Kaufman on board to spruce up the screenplay for this 1976 Western, and wound up being impressed enough to have Kaufman direct. However, Eastwood eventually fired Kaufman and took over directing duties himself, complaining that Kaufman demanded too many redundant takes from his actors.SUPERMAN II (1980)
It's a long-standing tradition for superhero movies to have trouble behind the scenes. Director Richard Donner shot the majority of Superman II alongside the original film, but filming was halted to allow Donner to concentrate on post-production for Superman: The Movie. When the cameras did start rolling again, Warner Bros. and the producers replaced Donner with Richard Lester (for reasons that are still unclear today, although Lester had previously worked for Superman producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind). Donner estimated that only 25% of the finished film contained his footage. Luckily, WB released a new version called "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" in 2006 that attempted to recreate Donner's original vision as much as possible.WARGAMES (1983)
Original director Martin Brest was fired from WarGames after less than two weeks. According to his replacement, John Badham, Brest was trying to push the film in too dark a direction and Badham was tasked with lightening the tone. THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1996)
Like Apocalypse Now, The Island of Dr. Moreau's infamous production woes have been the subject of entire documentaries. Original director Richard Stanley feuded with New Line from the start, with the studio finally electing to fire Stanley and bring in John Frankenheimer a few days into production. That firing did nothing to soothe tensions on the set, and even seemed to exacerbate star Marlon Brando's erratic behavior.AMERICAN HISTORY X (1998)
Director Tony Kaye made it through production unscathed, but plenty of friction developed between Kaye and New Line Cinema during post-production. Unsatisfied with Kaye's working cut, New Line executives eventually put the final cut in the hands of star Edward Norton and editor Jerry Greenberg. Kaye tried (unsuccessfully) to have his name removed from the final credits.THE 13TH WARRIOR (1998)
Test audiences didn't respond well to the original cut of this historical action film, causing Touchstone executives to bench director John McTiernan and turn to author Michael Crichton (who wrote the original novel, Eaters of the Dead) to perform uncredited re-shoots. After a significant overhaul that included a new ending, a new cut of the film and a new score from composer Jerry Goldsmith, the film finally saw release a year after originally intended.Toy Story 2 (1999)
The first Toy Story sequel started out as a relatively low priority for Pixar, which at the time was focusing most of its attention on 1998's A Big's Life. That changed when Disney upgraded Toy Story 2 from a direct-to-video release to full-scale theatrical endeavor and voiced its disapproval with the state of the film. Original director Ralph Guggenheim was replaced by John Lasseter and co-director Lee Unkrich, both of whom managed to completely overhaul the film in the span of nine months.EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (2004)
Director Paul Schrader was tapped to direct a prequel to The Exorcist, but producers weren't pleased with Schrader's more psychological approach to the franchise. Renny Harlin was hired to take over the film, and he wound up reworking and re-shooting the vast majority of the project. But following the resoundingly negative commercial and critical reception to Exorcist: The Beginning, Warner Bros. gave Schrader funds to complete his version, releasing it the following year as Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist. RUMOR HAS IT... (2005)
This 2005 romantic comedy hit some major bumps early in production, quickly falling behind schedule and compelling the producers to fire director Ted Griffin and replace him with Rob Reiner. Production then halted for several weeks while Reiner went about revising the screenplay and making various cast and crew changes.RATATOUILLE (2007)
Ratatouille is the first of several Pixar films to experience turmoil behind the scenes in recent years. The film was originally conceived by Jan Pinkava, who went as far as designing sets and characters and creating the initial storyline. However, Pixar chose to put the film in the more experienced hands of director Brad Bird, who at the time was fresh off his work on 2004's The Incredibles. Pinkava is still credited as co-director in the film.CARS 2 (2011)
Cars 2 isn't only one of the less well-received Pixar films, it also had a pretty rocky production history. Pixar announced that the film would be shifting from a 2012 to 2011 release date, even as Pixar boss John Lasseter stepped in to take over for original director Brad Lewis. Lasseter reportedly delivered a significant overhaul of the film, with Lewis being demoted to co-director in the final release.BRAVE (2012)
Brave proved to be one of Pixar's more technically challenging films, so it should come as little surprise that there were issues behind the scenes. Original director Brenda Chapman was replaced by Mark Andrews in 2010, with "creative differences" being blamed as the culprit.THE GOOD DINOSAUR (2015)
This recent Pixar effort began development in 2009, but it was a long, rocky road to the big screen. Original director Bob Peterson worked on the film until summer 2013, when he was replaced by Peter Sohn. Sohn reworked the film, particularly its troubled third act, and wound up replacing the majority of the voice cast before the film finally saw release in late 2015.Star Wars Anthology: Han Solo (2018)
Disney's new Star Wars movies have had their share of production troubles so far, but fans were nonetheless shocked to learn that directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller had been let go from the untitled Han Solo Anthology movie with a few weeks of principal photography left to go. Reportedly, Lord and Miller had been clashing with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy and writer Lawrence Kasdan from the beginning. Veteran director Ron Howard (who was also a potential director for Phantom Menace before George Lucas decided to direct it himself) stepped in to direct the Han Solo story.